Pinnacle buying hotel as part of plan for casino

Jim Suhr

Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004 | 9:47 a.m.

ST. LOUIS -- Casino-operating Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a downtown St. Louis hotel and fold it into a planned $250 million casino complex along the Mississippi River.

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle said it will pay FelCor Lodging LP at least $38 million for the 297-room Embassy Suites on the city's riverfront Laclede's Landing, just a few blocks from the bankrupt President Casino on the Admiral -- a casino Pinnacle had sought to buy for $30 million.

Pinnacle, expecting to finalize the deal early next year, said the hotel will adjoin the casino and luxury hotel the company plans to build. Pinnacle also expects to link the hotel to walkways and buildings connecting to the America's Center convention center.

"This agreement further strengthens our commitment to the city of St. Louis and our redevelopment goals for the area surrounding Laclede's Landing," said Daniel Lee, Pinnacle's chairman and chief executive.

In September, Missouri gaming regulators tapped Pinnacle to develop casinos in downtown St. Louis and in south St. Louis County, rejecting proposals by several other casino operators.

If it wins licensing approval from the Missouri Gaming Commission, Pinnacle's downtown site would feature a $200 million casino and five-star hotel on Laclede's Landing, opening it by late 2006. Pinnacle also has agreed to spend $50 million on residential development in the city, perhaps in the form of a condominium tower at Laclede's Landing. Pinnacle will pay a fine if it does not build the project within five years of opening the downtown casino.

Pinnacle also expects to build a $300 million mixed-use gaming and retail complex near the St. Louis suburb of Lemay. Scheduled to open in late 2007, that site would feature a 90,000-square-foot casino, 100-room hotel, retail space, movie theater and bowling alley on 80 acres of land.

Lee has said he had no doubt that his company would meet all the deadlines and conditions for the deal.